March 30th 2008

Elvington Update

Sunday saw the first round of the Auto 66 club championship at Elvington near York. Richard aims to compete in every round of this championship whereas Jamie is taking advantage of valuable track time. There were three races each in total - Richard in the Formula 125 class and Jamie in the GP125 and Formula Lites. Despite the appalling weather forecast it was bright and dry but a little cool.

Richard took to the track first and made a flying start to take the lead only to discover he was on a warm up lap! When the race started properly Richard was running in second place and although he dropped back to third it looked as though he would hold this position with some impressive late braking! The bike unfortunately developed a misfire and he dropped to sixth place by the time he crossed the finishing line. Mechanical problems plagued him for the rest of the day with a DNF in the second race and a seventh place in the championship points race. Although severely disappointed Richard is confident with the bike on form he will be able to run with the other bigger Aprillia 125’s.

Jamie used the time to bed his new Brembo brake calliper and experiment with the bike set up. Jamie won all three races but had a close race with Ian Ward in the second race unfortunately Ian’s bike seized on the last lap. There are several pictures of the boys on Alan Horner’s website www.alanhorner.co.uk. Jamie is riding 103 and Richard is 99.

Richard and Jamie will both compete at Cadwell on 24th and 25th March in the next round of the Auto 66 Championship.

The next night for the North Yorkshire Road Racing Supporters Club is on 18th March at Northallerton Football Club. The club will be introducing this years sponsored riders and the guests will be the Hydrex Honda racing Team.

from
Team Ferguson

April 2008

Relentless British 125 Championship Thruxton Round 1

In his debut Relentless British 125 Championship race for Banks Racing twenty one year old Stewart Finlay from Dundee came away with a hard fought 6th place after being involved in a nine bike tussle for the lead. Qualifying had been wet on Saturday and grip problems had left Stewart in 16th place on the grid. A brilliant start for the dry race on Sunday saw Stewart quickly near the front after a few laps and then the pace car was deployed which allowed all the riders to group back together but with only two flying laps left after the car pulled off Stewart only had time to pass two more riders and secure 6th place. The split lap times provided by TSL Sports Timing www.tsl-timing.com showed Stewart was the fastest rider through one half of the lap and second fastest through the other and his two best split times added together were the fastest lap of the race.

Stewart now lies 6th in the British Championship and the next round is at Oulton Park in two weeks time followed by the rescheduled Brands Hatch round the weekend after.

May 2008

Relentless British 125 Championship Brands Hatch Round 3

Back at Brands Hatch for what is now round 3 after the first attempt to run this meeting was snowed off in April. This was Stewart’s first major ride with Banks Racing back in April and due to a combination of mixed weather and lack of time on the bike Stewart qualified in 18th position. These grid positions were carried over to the re-run last weekend so we new if Stewart could work his way up to a top ten finish he would have done a good job. After Saturday’s two free practice sessions Stewart was in 5th place but still had to start from 18th on the grid.

In bright sunny weather with temperatures close to 30 degrees Stewart made a great start and was in 12th place at the end of lap 1 of the 14 lap race. He quickly moved up to 4th place having a great scrap with three krp bikes and a few others. When the 3rd placed rider retired with mechanical problems Stewart was in a seven bike scrap for 3rd place. Every lap Stewart crossed the finish line in either 3rd or 4th place until the last couple of laps when his tyres started to fade and he finished the race in a brilliant 5th place after starting from the 5th row of the grid in 18th place.

A week earlier at the Oulton Park round Stewart had again been running strong at the front when he crashed out of 5th place. He now lies 9th in the championship with plenty more rounds to come and time to move closer to the front of the championship and gain his first podium.

Next round of the Relentless British 125 Championship is at Donington at the end of May over Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday. Check out www.bankracing125.com for more updates and how to become involved with this small friendly team.

June 2008

Relentless British 125 Championship Mallory Round 6

With Stewart Finlay taking a break from racing 18 year old Jamie Ferguson had a busy weekend ahead of him as he was asked to take on board some testing of the bike vacated by Stewart as well as set-up his own Honda RS125 which had been fitted with different front forks along with new ignition maps. The first free practice session was dry but with rain clouds looking very threatening it was decided to give Jamie a run on both bikes in the first session to make sure he got a try of each bike in the dry. Sure enough the second session was wet and Jamie used this to good advantage ending the session in 22nd place. It was decided to let Jamie concentrate on one bike for qualifying but this turned out to be a mistake when after just a few laps of the session Jamie came in with a bad misfire that despite every effort we could not find the cause so a quick run back to the awning got Jamie the spare bike and after warming up the engine Jamie set off with cold tyres and about eight minutes left. On his last couple of laps he managed to put in a couple of quicker laps to qualify and ensure his place on the grid.

Sunday morning warm-up was looking positive for Jamie after some previous evening debriefs and some cornering help from former team rider James Ford but disaster struck after only three laps of the warm-up when Jamie was taken out in an 85 miles per hour crash at the first chicane hurting his knee and damaging the bike. While Jamie kept the swelling down on his knee with an ice pack the bike was repaired with help from Jamie’s brother Richard just in time for the races where Jamie finished just outside the top twenty despite the injury to his knee and on a positive note as it was his first time at Mallory on a GP125 he now has learnt the circuit which will be a big advantage to his next visit to Mallory Park.

July 2008

Relentless British 125 Championship Oulton Park Round 7

Banks Racing were please to announce the arrival of a new rider for the remainder of the season. Sixteen year old Niall Waddell from Edinburgh joined the team at last weekends Oulton Park round and immediately adapted to the new bike in the Friday free practice sessions finishing in 17th place in the morning session and then 12th out of 40 riders in the afternoon session.

Saturday’s first qualifying session was wet and Niall finished the session in 6th place on the timesheets. Qualifying 2 was run in dry conditions and Niall was in a very creditable 11th place and starting the race from the third row in what is his rookie year at British Championship level. Morning warm-up on race day turned out to be a one lap affair for most riders as the heavens opened during the first lap of the eight minute session and wisely Niall and most of the field came in and aborted the session.

The race was run in good conditions and Niall made a good start to be with the leading bunch in the first few laps but a little to much front brake at Lodge corner saw the rear of the Banks Racing Honda in the air but Niall managed to keep the bike on two wheels but lost touch with the group in front. He then finished the remaining laps in a 11th place to gain his first points in the Relentless British 125 Championship. He now lies 24th in the main championship and 8th in the Cup championship only two points behind Jay Lewis.

Team owner Pete Banks said "It has been a pleasure working with Niall and his dad Moray over the weekend and we now look forward to Niall’s home round at Knockhill and then the rest of the season where we will be concentrating on getting on the podium in the very competitive Academy Cup class that is for riders up to 16 years old".

August 2008

Relentless British 125 Championship Knockhill Round 8

First BSB podium for Niall Waddell

The Bennett’s British Superbike Championship headed to Knockhill last weekend and this was the all-important home round for Banks Racing rider Niall Waddell from Edinburgh. The meeting started with dry free practice on Friday and Niall made a great start to the weekend ending up 3rd in the first session and 9th in the second session. Qualifying took place over two sessions on Saturday, both were run in wet conditions and Niall qualified 2nd in the first session and 6th in the second session securing him an excellent starting position on the second row.

Sunday race day turned out to be another day of mixed weather and with only one lap of morning warm-up the heavens opened and Niall had to return to the pit lane to change to wet tyres. The race was late in the afternoon and the track had just about dried up as the riders set off on the warm-up laps. Niall’s start was not as good as he would have liked but he crossed the line on lap 1 a few seconds behind previous podium finisher Luke Hinton in 8th place. Not far behind Niall were two times winner this year Paul Jordan and podium finisher this year Connor Behan but Niall’s pace was quick enough to pull away from the battle behind him. Niall worked away at catching Luke and by half distance had gone ahead and was up to 6th place. The pair battled out the remaining laps with Niall managing to hold off Luke and take a highly creditable 6th place and also finished 3rd in the BSB Academy Cup class and secure his first ever BSB podium.

Niall would like to dedicate his first BSB Academy Cup Podium to Craig Jones as a thank you for his sponsorship and encouragement in Niall’s rookie BSB season.

Next round Cadwell Park 23/24/25th August

August 2008

Relentless British 125 Championship Cadwell Park Round 9

Round 9 saw the team travel to Lincolnshire to the picturesque circuit of Cadwell Park famous for it’s mountain section where all classes of bikes get into some rather spectacular shapes as the front wheel and sometimes he rear wheel lifts off the track. Sadly it was this mountain section that was to end a brilliant race for team rider 17 year old Niall Waddell from Edinburgh.

Free practice 1 saw Niall straight away on the pace in competitive mood with a great 8th place finish out of the 35 riders that were on track. This was backed up with two 11th places in FP2 and first qualifying. Niall hit traffic at the wrong time in final qualifying and finished up in 14th place.

The Cadwell grid had been altered to just three riders on each row so Niall had to start on the 5th row instead of the 4th but got away well and after a couple of laps was in an eight rider group all racing for 4th place. Niall was setting personal bests each lap in the race when the chain derailed and snapped while coming over the mountain, a common problem over the mountain that in the past has robbed several riders in all classes of a win. No points for the Relentless British 125 Championship or the Cup class but Niall had once again has shown he is a force to be reckoned with and his performances are getting better and better each weekend and with the www.banksracing125.com Honda consistently figuring in the top three of the speed traps we are looking for some more strong results in the last quarter of the season.

Although Niall is in his rookie season at this level he is making plans to move to the Super Stock 600 class leaving a ride available for next season. Contact Peter by email about the ride or just to let us know your thoughts on our efforts in the 125cc British Championship.

Next round is Banks Racing’s local round at Croft on September 12th 13th and 14th. See you there.

September 2008

Relentless British 125 Championship Round 10 Croft

The North Yorkshire circuit of Croft is the home round for Banks Racing and we were hoping for point scoring rides in both the Relentless British 125 Championship race and the Academy Cup class as well.

The track is very demanding and some of the high-speed sections take several meetings for young riders to master so expectations were not set high for the first two free practice sessions on Friday. Team rider Niall Waddell from Edinburgh on only his second race meeting at Croft used the two practice sessions to his best advantage clocking up as many laps as possible.

The two qualifying sessions held on Saturday were again in dry conditions and by the end of the day Niall would start the race from 15th position out of the 36 riders entered for the event. Niall made an unusually poor start and was down in 19th place as he raced along towards Tower Bend on lap 1 but despite an electrical problem slowing him slightly he raced on to an excellent 11th place in the main Relentless British 125 Championship race and finished 5th in the Academy Cup class and put in a very creditable lap of 1 minute 29 seconds on his last lap. Niall now lies 8th in the cup championship and 18th in the British championship in what is still his rookie year at BSB.

Niall’s teammate Jamie Ferguson from nearby Stockton had more bad luck at his home race when he had to retire on the first lap with a broken reed valve.

Next round is Silverstone on September 26th 27th 28th.

To get involved or read about the team and riders visit www.banksracing125.com

October 2008

Relentless British 125 Championship Round 12 - Brands Hatch

The final round of the Relentless British 125 Championship was held in summery conditions and provided some great racing. Friday’s free practice sessions went without incident and Niall was 14th in free practice 2 with a lap time of 51.2 seconds. With a new piston and ring fitted for Saturday’s first qualifying session Niall spent the first few laps running in before setting about securing a fast time to ensure a good provisional starting position for Sunday’s race. With about five minutes of the session left Niall was well placed within the top ten when he lost the front while under heavy braking for the hairpin. Both Niall and the bike were ok but he was unable to rejoin so watched his position drop down to 16th with a lap time of 50.8 seconds. With the bike all fixed for Qualifying 2 Niall was soon running at a very good pace and ended the session with a second row start and a lap time of 50.3 seconds.

For Sunday’s race Niall had to start from the inside of the grid and this turned out to be a bad position because although he made a good start he was completely boxed in at the first corner and could not make any passes on his fellow riders until he got to the hairpin. Niall was outside the top twenty at this point but rode incredibly well to get back in the points where he finished 8th in the Academy Cup Championship and 13th in the Relentless British 125 Championship. Teammate Jamie Ferguson also made a bad start but battled his way through from 38th on lap 1 to 27th and was involved in a thrilling five-machine battle.

Niall is changing classes next year and www.banksracing125.com would like to thank him and his dad Moray for all the exciting races he has had with us and for being the friendly people that they are. Also thanks to the fine results achieved by Stewart Finlay who raced the bike at the start of the year and if you add the points scored by both riders the team would have been much higher up in the championships.

Thanks to everyone who has helped or followed the team and look out for summary of this years racing very shortly.

December 2008

With the season over for only a few weeks it's already time to look ahead and make plans for 2009. Riders Stewart Finlay, Niall Waddell and Jamie Ferguson are all going in other directions for 2009 leaving us with the exciting prospect of two new riders in the Banks Racing awning. Most teams seem to have made their plans early for next year and Banks Racing is no exception and we will be able to announce our line-up in the next few weeks. The amount of interest shown from riders wanting to be part of Banks Racing in 2009 has been very encouraging and I wish we could help them all so making a decision has been very difficult this year. Thanks to everyone for the interest they have shown.

The most important thing to be done now is say a huge thank you to all people who have supported Banks Racing this year. Some are companies, some are individuals and friends. Without them racing would be much more difficult and the weekends duller without these people popping in to say hello so once again thank you very much and we hope to see you all next year.

It just remains to wish you all a Happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

Click here to contact Banks Racing. We look forward to hearing from you

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